System Awakens

A cold wind slithered through the cracks in the wooden walls, wrapping around Xiao Lian's frail body like an unwanted embrace.

The small chamber was barely more than a forgotten storage space, with a rotting bed frame, a single rickety table, and a thin mat that did little to shield her from the hard wooden floor. Moonlight bled through the gaps in the shutters, illuminating the dust motes that danced in the stale air.

This was where the Xiao family had left her to rot. She clenched her fists beneath the ragged blanket. They thought she was useless. A failure. A burden not even worth acknowledging. They hardly even give her three square meal a day. How can a family be this wicked to their own child? Their own blood.

Since I've been in this body, I hardly seen other maids or any oth family member of the family, not even her father, her mother or even her sister. Just madam Liu.

Let them think that. Because soon, she would make them regret ever casting her aside. As far as he's in this body for a second chance. She will use one stone to surely kill two bird and make them regret ever treating her in such manner.

But first, she had to survive. A sharp chime echoed in her mind.

[Supreme Intelligence System (SIS) Fully Activated.]

Xiao Lian sat upright, her heart pounding. The mechanical voice from before returned, crisp and devoid of emotion.

[Welcome, Host. As the Supreme Intelligence System, my function is to optimize your growth, analyze opponents, and provide cultivation strategies to ensure survival.]

"Cultivation strategies…?" Xiao Lian repeated under her breath, golden eyes narrowing.

Cultivation was the foundation of this world, the difference between being a ruler and a beggar. She had inherited the memories of the former Xiao Lian, and they painted a brutal picture. Those born without talent were discarded, left to scrape by in a world ruled by power.

She would not be one of them.

"SIS, what is my current cultivation state?"

A new panel flickered into existence in her vision, filled with rows of cold, unfeeling text.

[Host: Xiao Lian]

[Age: 16]

[Cultivation Level: None]

[Physique: Severely Malnourished | Qi Veins Damaged | Potential: Locked]

Her jaw clenched. She had already seen this before, but reading it again made her stomach twist.

"There has to be something I can do," she muttered. "A way to start."

[Initiating Comprehensive Scan.]

A faint hum resonated in her mind, a strange, tingling sensation coursing through her limbs. Then, it's started.

[Scan Complete. Hidden Potential Detected.]

Her breath hitched.

"Explain."

[Due to unique neural structuring, Host possesses an advanced cognitive foundation. Traditional cultivation methods are unsuitable. SIS will generate an optimized path.]

A pulse of energy spread through her mind. Words appeared before her, each one sending a shiver down her spine.

[New Path Generated: Scholar's Ascension – Mind Over Matter]

[Unlike brute force cultivators, Host will excel in strategy, formations, and alchemy. By combining intelligence with unorthodox methods, Host will defy traditional limitations.]

Xiao Lian exhaled slowly, letting the words sink in. She wouldn't be a brute-force fighter. She wouldn't have overwhelming strength like the heroes of the stories she had once read.

But she would be smarter. She would become the kind of cultivator no one saw coming, one who turned knowledge itself into a weapon. Her fingers curled, a smirk ghosting her lips.

"Then let's begin."

First Attempt at Cultivation. She closed her eyes, steadying her breathing. Cultivation required absorbing the world's natural energy, Qi...and refining it within the body. She focused, reaching out with her senses.

At first, there was nothing. Just the quiet hum of the wind. Then, like whispers in the dark, she felt it, faint, lingering traces of Qi in the air. It was weak here, barely a thread of energy, but it was there.

She tried to pull it in. Pain exploded through her chest. She gasped, clutching at her ribs as her meridians burned like fire coursing through broken glass. Her body rejected the energy instantly, forcing it out like a poison.

[Warning: Qi Veins Severely Damaged. Attempting Traditional Cultivation May Cause Internal Ruptures.]

Her breath was ragged. Her entire body trembled.

"Damn it," she hissed. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

[Solution Detected.]

A new set of instructions flashed before her.

[Host must not absorb Qi directly. Instead, recalibrate through cognitive cultivation—enhancing the mind's ability to manipulate formations, analyze techniques, and utilize external Qi sources rather than internal absorption.]

Xiao Lian's eyes widened. Most cultivators strengthened their bodies first, using Qi to temper their flesh, bones, and meridians. But if she couldn't do that…She would strengthen her mind.

"Alright, SIS. Show me the first step."

[Step One: The Art of Formations.]

A Family's Abandonment. Before she could begin, loud voices echoed from outside her door.

"I still don't understand why we bother keeping her here," a woman's voice sneered.

Madam Liu.

Xiao Lian remained silent, listening.

"The Patriarch has already decided," another voice responded. "Xiao Lian will be sent to the Qingshui Monastery in three days."

The blood in Xiao Lian's veins turned ice cold.

Monastery?

That was just a flowery way of saying exile. The Xiao family was finally cutting her off completely. And with her weak body, being abandoned in a remote, barren place like that meant one thing, she wouldn't survive.

Xiao Lian inhaled deeply, forcing her expression into calm neutrality. She should have expected this. The Xiao family had already written her off as a disgrace. They never planned to give her a chance.

Fine.

"Let them send me away."

They thought they were getting rid of a useless failure. Instead, they were giving her the freedom to grow into something they could never predict. Her golden eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

If the Xiao family thought they could erase her from history, They were dead wrong. How can her father not come to see her out? Why so much hate towards her? This is so wicked of them.